


Slimey Dresses Always Lead to Misfortune

by toacastleiwilltakeyou



Category: Merlin (TV), Princess and the Frog (2009)
Genre: Animal Transformation, M/M, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, UST, dragqueen!Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-02
Updated: 2013-10-02
Packaged: 2017-12-28 05:05:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/988024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toacastleiwilltakeyou/pseuds/toacastleiwilltakeyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur gets not only himself turned into frogs. The two amphibians must travel far underneath Camelot to get the answers they seek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slimey Dresses Always Lead to Misfortune

When Merlin had asked for Morgana to distract Arthur for an afternoon so he could have some “time off,” she had been completely pleasant. She hadn’t even asked what he was doing, which was quite lucky for him, seeing as he’d been sneaking off to take down a manticore that had wandered a bit too close to the city. Merlin had been extremely grateful, even promising her a favor in return before he sped through the halls, repeated the new spell he learned in his head. 

Merlin had completely forgotten about the incident, preoccupied with balancing servitude, apprenticeship, and Destiny. So when his presence was requested at the Lady Morgana’s chambers, his mind was racing at what could possibly be going on. Sure, Merlin had mostly gotten over the Lady Morgana’s distracting beauty when they bonded over taking the piss out on a certain prince, but that didn’t mean that he’d forgotten how scary she could be when she wanted to be. She had to have something going on that made Uther listen to her.

With all that in mind, it wasn’t exactly surprising to find that Merlin was very near hyperventilating by the time he reached Morgana’s door. He was raising his hand to knock when the door swung open.

“Merlin!” cried Morgana when she spotted the manservant. “I’m so glad you could make it. Please, come in.”

Merlin silently obeyed. Merlin sort of just stood in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do. 

He was trying to think of something to say, but was put off by Morgana circling around him. 

“Yes, you’ll do perfectly,” Morgana said to herself. And before Merlin could find out what he’d do perfectly, Morgana spoke again. “All right, Merlin, undress.” 

“Wh-what?” was all Merlin could say. 

“Don’t be shy, Merlin.” 

“Morgana, it’s not that you’re not beautiful, because you are, but I, um,” Merlin paused in his explanation at the sound of Morgana’s laughter. “What?” 

“Merlin, I’m not trying to bed you. As cute as you are, I’m afraid our dear Arthur wouldn’t forgive me.”

Before Merlin could point out that Arthur didn’t give a damn what Merlin did so long as his super important armour was so shiny he could stare at himself (which he probably did, the prat), Morgana continued talking. 

“No, I’ve called you here because you owe me a favor.” 

Then Merlin remembered the promise he’d made Morgana, and he felt himself relax a little in relief. At least he was called here for a reason. 

One look at the mischievous glimmer in Morgana’s eyes and Merlin said goodbye to the brief comfort he felt. 

“Milady, I have everything—Oh, I see Merlin’s already here. Perfect,” said Gwen as she walked in the door, arms full of fabric. 

“What’s going on?” Merlin asked. 

“You haven’t told him yet?” asked Gwen. 

“I was just getting to that.” Morgana answered then turned to Merlin. “I’m afraid tonight’s banquet will be incredibly boring, and I’ll be in need of entertainment.”

Merlin did not like the sound of that. “What sort of entertainment?”

“Oh, you know, just a good friend to socialize with.” 

 

*

A knock sounded at Arthur’s door, and because his manservant was nowhere to be found, he answered the door himself. 

“What?” 

“Y-your highness,” sobbed a handmaid. 

“Um, yes, why don’t you come in and tell me what happened?” Arthur had no idea what to do.   
Crying girls were not his forte. He gently pulled her into his rooms and closed the door behind her. She sat down on a chair and continued sobbing until Arthur went over and put an arm around her to try and comfort her. “

“There, there,” he tried to soothe, patting her back awkwardly. 

She looked up at his words, and he was immediately entranced by her bright eyes. 

*

 

“Stop squirming!” Morgana scolded. It wasn’t as if Merlin could help it. He had padding in awkward places to give him the appearance of having lady curves that would fill out a dress that Gwen had already altered to fit his body – how she had figured out his measurements he wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t exactly in the position to ask. 

Merlin did his best not to look at his new feminine self, he really did. But Morgana wanted him to bask in the glory of some alternate version of Merlin in which he was actually a woman. When he stepped in front of one of Morgana’s full length mirrors, he let out a surprised gasp. 

Before him wasn’t Merlin the manservant; nor was it Emrys the warlock. No, the person being reflected back at him was a lady, a noble lady. She wore a crimson gown made of expensive material Merlin hoped he’d never have to wash. It had thick, golden trip around the neckline and sleeves. Morgana had placed a golden sash of some sort around his padded hips. Morgana had done something with a scarf around his head that Merlin wasn’t even going to try to understand, hiding his conspicuous ears and lack of lady locks. Merlin’s face was painted to give it softer, more feminine shape. At the same time, he found that Morgana had somehow made his cheek bones look even higher. His already long, dark lashes were curling up over his darkly lined eyes. His lips were painted a pale pink. 

Merlin looked so different; he almost didn’t whisper a spell that would keep people who didn’t know about his disguise from recognizing him when Morgana’s back was turned. 

Almost. 

Morgana really shouldn’t have been surprised when “Lady Marden” (“Marden?” Merlin had protested. “Yes, it’s close enough to your name that you might actually remember it,” Morgana explained.) spilled wine all over herself. Seriously. Had she seen Merlin do anything before? It wasn’t on purpose, but when Morgana suggested that he go clean himself up, he’d wished he’d thought of it himself. 

For what was probably the first time, his clumsiness was getting him out of trouble. Maybe his luck was turning around. 

At least, that’s what he thought when he tripped in the hallway. Damn heels. He fell flat on his barely padded bum (“You have such a perk bum, Merlin; it doesn’t really need padding. Just enough to make it even with your hips, I suppose.”). Merlin reached around to gather his skirts when he felt his hand touch something sticky. 

“Ew,” Merlin groaned as he wiped the goo off on the dress. Morgana was going to kill him.  
As much as he wanted to ignore the mystery slime, things like this tended to come back and bite him in the arse (in that incident with the kelpie, quite literally). Merlin sighed as he traced the trail of slime until he came upon a frog. 

“Hello, little fella.” Merlin was relieved to find out it was just a frog. He would sleep well at night knowing that Arthur was safe to continue being his pratty self because instead of some supernatural slime producing monster, Merlin had tripped on a frog. Sure, the frog was sort of staring at him, but it was a frog for goodness’ sake. 

Maybe his luck really was changing. 

“How’d you get all the way in here?” 

“I don’t know! I just woke up like this!” The frog cried and shit. Merlin’s luck definitely was not turning around. Plus that voice sounded just like…

“Arthur—I mean, sire?” Merlin corrected himself in his girl voice—the one Morgana had made him practice while she put an intricate sort of headdress contraption on his head to cover the fact that Merlin didn’t have a lady’s long locks. He did not want Arthur to find out what Morgana had made him do. Even if he knew that even Arthur has never been able to say no to Morgana when she has her mind set on something, Merlin was in a dress. 

“Yes!” the frog sprang up. “You have to help me, milady!” 

“Right,” Merlin sighed. Why was Arthur always getting himself in trouble? “Why don’t you tell me what happened?” 

“Well, a chambermaid was in my room,” Arthur was interrupted by a rather unladylike snort from Merlin. Arthur shot him a glare for a moment, but quickly gave up the staring contest to continue telling his story. He did like to hear himself talk, that one. “Not like that, she was crying.”

“Oh, that’s much better,” Merlin commented. 

“Oi! Not. Like. That. She showed up at my door trying to fill a mote. I tried to comfort her, and next thing I know, I’m waking up in a little cage and a frog.” 

“That’s it? That’s all you remember?” 

“Well, she had these blue eyes,” Arthur started but Merlin quickly interrupted, not wanting to hear about how attractive Arthur believed the mystery sorceress to be. 

“Right, well, we better figure out how to reverse this,” Merlin said, more to himself than to Arthur. 

Arthur answered anyway. “Right, let’s go to my father at once.”

“I don’t know about that, sire. Your father can be a little, erm…touchy when sorcery’s involved.”

Merlin expected Arthur to rage a bit at any disparaging comments against his father, but Arthur’s puffed up chest just deflated a bit before he nodded with consent. “I suppose you’re right,” the prince said. “But what can we do?”

“Um, well, do you have a library around here?” Merlin asked, trying to play the role of visitor to Camelot. 

“Yeah, why?” because of course Arthur was wary of anything to do with books.

“For research. Lead the way!”

Merlin followed the amphibious prince to where he knew the library was, though did his best to play dumb. They kept silent until they reached the room, and Merlin was thankful that Geoffrey was at the banquet. 

“Right, so what can I do?” the frog asked, and Merlin was a little taken aback that Arthur actually wanted to do something involving books. 

“Help me look through these books for anything that looks similar to your predicament.” 

“Right,” Merlin heard Arthur mutter as Merlin put some books in front of him. 

*

A candle mark had passed and neither Arthur nor the lady helping him had found anything. Arthur immediately felt like he could trust her, which put him on his guard. More questionably, she seemed like she’d done this kind of thing before, and Arthur wasn’t sure what to make of that. He kept glancing up at her, obviously because he was trying to figure her out and definitely not because he was checking her out. 

“Ah-hah!” the lady exclaimed. 

“What?” Arthur practically fell from the table. 

“I think I figured out what happened. Here, look at this story: prince gets cursed and turned into frog, girl finds frog, girl kisses frog, frog turns back into prince.”

“This is a fairy tale,” Arthur points out. 

“Who says fairy tales aren’t real?” the girl said with an air of mystery. 

Arthur just sort of stared at her for a minute, and decided not to think about that one. “Fine. So then…what? You kiss me and I turn into me again?” 

“And then we hunt down the witch who did this to you,” the girl added. 

“No, then I’m hunting down the witch who did this to me.” Arthur was not doing this with a girl.   
The lady stared at Arthur stubbornly for a moment, like she was thinking through various arguments. After a moment her shoulders sagged and she had a sly grin on her face. “Right.”

Arthur read the expression as if he knew the woman very well, and hadn’t just met her that night. 

“I mean it. You are going back to doing whatever you were doing.”

“Yes, sire,” she said with the same expression that clearly meant she had no intention of doing that. Before Arthur could list all the reasons why it was very important for her to listen to him, she spoke again. 

“Oh gods, you’re a frog. I have to kiss a frog.”

“I promise that I’m very handsome in my true form.”

She snorted. “I’m not about to kiss you ‘true form’; I’m about to kiss you, frog prince.”

“Would you like to kiss my true form?” Did Arthur say that? Arthur didn’t mean to say that. Was he flirting? What the hell? 

“I’m sure if you’re lonely you can find some unsuspecting chambermaid to spend some time with you. Now let’s get this over with before I change my mind.” Apparently, that meant the lady grabbing him and kissing him. 

Then there was a light swirling around her and then she dropped him—the prince! By the time he’d righted himself the lady was nowhere to be found. Oh gods, had they done this wrong? Had she disappeared or something? 

Then he spotted a pile of red fabric on the floor that looked suspiciously like the lady’s dress, among other things. He hopped down to it. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be going through a lady’s clothing, but perhaps he could find some clues as to where she had gone. 

*

Merlin opened his eyes and found himself drowning in a crimson sea. He tried lifting the fabric off of himself but he just ended up a sticky mess. 

Lucky for him, someone else was there to rescue him (that was a new one) and he found Arthur looking at him. 

“Oh shit,” said Arthur. 

“What?” Merlin said, and then looked around for what caused the prince to curse. He realized what it was once he looked down. 

And ‘oh shit’ didn’t even cover it. 

He was a frog. 

“Fuckfuckfuck,” Merlin said, though if asked, he couldn’t say if he shouted it or whispered it. 

“Look, I know this isn’t going as planned—”Arthur started, but he didn’t get very far. 

“Not going as planned? Arthur, I’m a frog! I’m covered in slime! How am I supposed to help us if I’m a frog?” Merlin shouted. 

Arthur just stared at him. 

“What?” Merlin snapped. 

“…Merlin?”

And that’s when Merlin realized that he’d forgotten to use his girl voice. To be fair, suddenly becoming a frog was shocking enough to warrant the forgetting of trivial things like speaking in a different manner. Then again, perhaps if he didn’t run his mouth off so often Arthur wouldn’t have recognized his voice right away. 

“Erm, yeah?”

Arthur just stared at him. 

“I know this looks bad, but you don’t understand. I wasn’t dressed like that for fun. Morgana made me. And you know how she is.” Merlin tried to explain. 

“You let a girl boss you around, Merlin?” Arthur looked amused now. 

“Morgana’s not a girl; she’s a force of nature.” Merlin didn’t care what Arthur said. There was no way to offer a credible argument against that. If Merlin didn’t know better, he’d think she was related to Uther. 

“Anyway,” Merlin tried to deflect, “We sort of have a situation on our hands. Like, a major situation.”

“Right, well… Gaius is the resident expert on all things sorcery. He could help us.” 

Merlin tried not to roll his eyes. Gaius was hardly a sorcerer. Then again, he was knowledgeable and he was Merlin’s mentor with all this magic stuff, so it made sense…

“Wow, that was actually a good idea,” Merlin agreed, and before Arthur could do something like smack him, he turned and left for the physician’s quarters. 

 

*

 

“There really isn’t anything I can do.” Gaius said. “This kind of transfiguration takes powerful magic; even if I knew how to undo it, I’m not sure that we could.” 

They had been up late into the night searching through Gaius’s books, looking for an answer. Arthur kept catching Gaius send Merlin increasingly panicked looks when he thought Arthur wasn’t looking. 

“Well, there is one more source we can use,” Merlin said. 

“What?” Arthur asked. Gaius just raised his Eyebrow. 

“He’s a bit out of the way, but we could get to him,” said Merlin. Gaius’s Eyebrow shot up in a look that meant he understood exactly whom Merlin was talking about. 

“Merlin,” Gaius warned. 

“Trust me, Gaius, I know that going down there isn’t the best idea I’ve ever had, but right now it’s our only idea.” 

Arthur really wanted to know what the hell Merlin was talking about. 

Gaius stared Merlin down with his impending Eyebrow of doom, but, surprisingly, Merlin didn’t back down. A few moments passed before Gaius nodded his consent. 

“Fine, but I’m not happy about it. And I’ll be taking you.”

“Of course, Gaius,” said Merlin, but Arthur could read his expression. The other frog had something planned, and Arthur wanted to know what. 

Judging by the stare off Merlin and Gaius were having, it would be better if Arthur just stayed out of their way and worked things out on his own. 

*

Merlin and Arthur were crowded together in a leather bag that Gaius used to gather herbs. It was smelly and they were tangled together in slime, which may have been because they kept pushing each other in a useless attempt to find a comfortable spot. 

Gaius dumped them out unceremoniously, the two frogs tangled together. They immediately started pushing at each other. 

“You two stop it!” Gaius ordered in a whisper. 

“He’s gotten his slime all over me!” Merlin whined. 

“Merlin, that’s not slime. You two are secreting mucus. And stop your whinging, we have more pressing issues.” 

“What’s wrong?” Merlin said in a rushed whisper. 

“There are guards!” Gaius whispered back. 

“Of course there are guards, Gaius,” Merlin rolled his eyes. There were always guards—not that they knew what they were guarding. 

“And how, exactly, were you planning on me getting you past them?” Gaius’s eyebrow had risen and Merlin knew he was in trouble. 

“I, erm, wasn’t,” Merlin said quickly. “Arthur and I are small enough to pass by without the need for distraction.” Merlin hoped that Gaius understood that Merlin didn’t believe this moment to be the best time to reveal his magic to Arthur. 

Judging by Gaius’s scowl, he got Merlin’s message. And he didn’t like it. 

But he’d let Merlin do it, and that was the important thing. 

*

So maybe this wasn’t Merlin’s best idea. 

The darkness was a tangible presence, weighing down on him nearly as much as the dank air. 

“Well, Merlin,” Arthur drawled after he pulled himself under the door. “How exactly do you plan on navigating your way through here?” 

Merlin knew Arthur had a point. Merlin had always brought a torch with him when he came down here, but even if he didn’t, he always had his magic. 

Not that he could use it right now, with Arthur’s attention on him. He was in enough trouble as it was. Merlin was trying to think of something when he felt Arthur tense behind him. A moment later, Merlin’s ears caught up to Arthur’s warrior senses and froze as well. There was something coming towards them, and whatever it was, there were a lot of them and Merlin had a feeling they weren’t friendly. Merlin panicked for a millisecond before deciding fuck it; he wasn’t going to let his prince die. 

With a muttered word, Merlin was able to see in the dark and almost missed Arthur’s surprised gasp. While his golden eyes hardly shined in the day time, it would have been blinding to Arthur in the thick darkness. 

He didn’t worry about it right then. At that moment he saw that there were rodents of unusual size practically stampeding at them. Immediately, Merlin pulled Arthur close and sprinted away from them. 

They ran almost blindly for an indeterminable amount of time until the panic faded and the nasty side effects of sprinting were taking their toll on Merlin. Merlin kept running a rather large group of rats were still after them, occasionally calling out to them in an attempt to scare them. Merlin realized that what was happening needed to stop. Arthur and Merlin couldn’t just blindly runaway all night. They certainly couldn’t outrun them forever, and the pair of them was down there for a reason. 

Merlin only slowed a bit as he took in his surroundings looking for…there! In the wall, about three feet up from the floor, a huge chunk of stone was missing. It was certainly large enough for Merlin and Arthur to hide out in. 

Immediately, Merlin sped up and turned to the wall, pulling Arthur along with him. He pulled Arthur close as he used his magic to enhance his leap up the wall. As soon as they landed he muttered a spell of protection to keep any unfriendly visitors away. 

Merlin let go of Arthur, whom he was still holding close. He turned to face his prince, but Merlin found that he had trouble reading the subtleties in Arthur’s expression when he was a frog. 

“Arthur,” Merlin started, unsure what more he would say. Luckily, it seemed he didn’t have to. 

“Let’s get some rest,” Arthur huffed, and then felt around for a comfortable spot.

“Yes, sire,” Merlin murmured. He lay down, knowing that he would need rest for the journey before him. He didn’t get much though. His dreams were full of burning pyres; his nightmares were filled with Arthur. 

*

When Arthur woke up, he wasn’t even sure that he had opened his eyes because it was so dark. He sat up immediately, but as he felt his slimy skin covering his amphibious body, he started to remember the events from earlier: being turned into a frog, sneaking into the dungeons, and oh yeah, Merlin using magic. 

Arthur was angry, but it wasn’t the kind of anger he was supposed to feel. Arthur was supposed to be angry because there had been a sorcerer hiding under his nose for almost a year. He was angry that Merlin had lied to him, yes, but only because that meant he didn’t trust Arthur. Arthur was both angry and baffled that Merlin was not only living in the heart of the most anti-sorcery kingdom in the history of kingdoms, but working as the prince of said kingdom’s personal manservant. Arthur knew Merlin wasn’t the sharpest blade in the armoury, but this was a whole new level of idiotic, which was saying something considering that Merlin was…well, Merlin was Merlin. 

“Ar…Sire?” Arthur heard Merlin whisper hesitantly. He could hear the fear in Merlin’s voice, and that made a wave of anger crash over him. Not at Merlin, but at himself for being someone Merlin feared. 

“Yes, Merlin?” Arthur answered. 

“About my magic,” Merlin said. Arthur mostly held back a flinch at the word magic, but other than that he kept his cool. 

“Yes, about that, Merlin,” said Arthur. “When we get out of this mess, you’ll go straight to the stocks. It’s illegal to keep secrets from your prince.” 

“Wait you mean…you’re not mad?” 

“No, I’m throwing you in the stocks because I’m happy with you.” Arthur would have smacked the back of Merlin’s head if he could see where the idiot was. Speaking of which, “Can you do something about this light situation?” 

There was a pause before Merlin said a word in a language that made Arthur’s insides flop before Arthur was blinded. 

Arthur blinked back at the light, but once his eyes adjusted he let out a sharp breath. 

Floating near them was a blue and white orb. A magical blue and white orb. The same orb that led Arthur out of the caves after he found the morteus flower. 

Arthur just let out an exasperated sigh and held back a fond smile. “You have a lot of explaining to do, Merlin.” 

*

Merlin couldn’t hold back the grin that probably covered his entire slimy face. Arthur knew about his magic, was perfectly fine with it in fact. He’d even asked Merlin to use it. 

Merlin had dreamed of revealing his magic to Arthur, longed for the day when he wouldn’t have to keep secrets from Arthur. 

Somehow, that day was today. Nothing could wipe the smile of his face, not this dark dungeon, not being a frog, not even Arthur as a frog. 

Merlin’s smile faltered when Arthur yelled “Rat!” and moved to protect Merlin from the creatures that looked so much more frightening when one is smaller than them. As if the filthy things didn’t carry enough diseases as it was, now they had to be bigger than him, all rotten teeth and sharp claws, and ugh, those tales. 

Merlin looked at the direction Arthur was facing. Just after Arthur’s warning shout, the rat jumped too. 

“Rat!” It cried. “Where?” His eyes were wide as he looked at his surroundings nervously.   
Merlin laughed. He couldn’t help it. Arthur glared at him for it, but Merlin ignored him. If the rat was out to hurt them it would have done it already, and besides, this rat seemed different from the other rats. 

And if he did decide to attack, Merlin would be ready. 

“Hullo,” Merlin said, his wide smile back on his face, almost as bright as the light-providing orb above them that did a damn good job blinding any rats that thought the two frogs would make a good snack. “You’re the rat. We thought you were going to attack us. You won’t, will you?” 

Merlin could practically hear what Arthur was mentally yelling at him, which was somewhere along the lines of ‘Merlin! You don’t just ask one of those beasts if they’re going to attack us!’ 

The only sign that Merlin read the message in Arthur’s body language was the quick eye roll he offered before turning back to the rodent. 

“No, no of course not! I just saw your light, and, well, it was so gorgeous I had to come see it. We don’t get much light down here. It’s precious when there is,” the rat explained. 

“The light has scared away everyone else,” Merlin said, confused. 

“That’s because they’ve lived their whole lives in the dark. It’s done bad things to them, and the clotpoles don’t even know what they’re missing.” 

“So…you didn’t grow up down here?” That would explain why he didn’t look like the other rats. 

“Me? Nah, I lived with my mam and my sisters up in the kitchens that bitch of a head cook left poison in the bins my family always ate from. My whole family died,” the rat’s tone had become melancholy. “I started just wandering around the castle, and somehow I ended up down here. I haven’t been able to find my way out.” 

“Wow that must have been really difficult for you.” Arthur elbowed Merlin for his words. 

“What?” Merlin turned to him. “He’s lost everyone he loves, and even if he knew anyone else it doesn’t matter because he’s been locked down here in the dark!” 

Arthur must have seen something in Merlin’s eyes because he dropped the issue and stayed silent for the rest of the conversation. 

Merlin turned back to the rat. “I’m Merlin, and this prat is Prince Arthur.” 

The rat broke out in laughter. Once he’d gained back his breath he saw the earnest look on Merlin’s face. 

“You’re not serious, are you?” 

“Of course I’m serious.” 

“The two of you know you’re frogs, yeah?” the rat said. 

“We’re not really frogs. We’re people. And before you start laughing again, I swear on my mum that I’m telling the truth. There was a spell cast on us,” Merlin quickly explained. 

“Right,” the rat said, really looking at them for a moment, as if he expected there to be something human in their appearance. “Okay. Well, I’m Louis. What are you doing down here?” 

“There’s someone down here that can help us.” 

“You’re wrong there, boy-o. I’ve been down here for years and there are no people down here. Sometimes there’s a man with a torch that visits the dragon, brave soul. Some of the rats are total gossips, been saying he’s a bloody warlock or something.” Louis bellowed a quick laugh before continuing. “I follow him sometimes before he goes too far down for me to spend some time in the light of his torch, but let me tell you, having lived upstairs, I can tell a servant when I see one.”

Merlin ignored Arthur’s stare, even as it burned into him. “We’re not here to see a person,” he said seriously. 

“Then who’s gonna help you out down here?” Louis looked really confused. 

“Oh fuck, Merlin, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Arthur said. Louis jumped. He’d probably forgotten the prince was there, seeing as he’d been silent the whole conversation. Merlin flinched too, but for an entirely different reason. 

Merlin gulped before he spoke again. “We’re going to see the dragon.” 

Merlin expected Louis to just laugh at him again, but instead the rat’s eyes went wide and his whole body stiff. Merlin had a feeling that if he was a person, he would have paled. 

“You lot are bloody nutters,” Louis said, shaking his head and stepping back from them. “Have you ever seen the beast? The huge thing with the scales and the, feck, the fire. And he’s bloody mental. Anyone would be after nothing but this place for twenty fecking years.”

“Louis, you know the guy that comes down here to visit the dragon?” Merlin asked. He was shaking a little. He knew Arthur was paying more attention than he seemed. He just didn’t know what Arthur was thinking, and it was freaking him out. 

“I just told you about him, didn’t I?” Louis said, clearly confused by the nonsequitor. 

“Well, he, er…” Merlin wasn’t sure how to actually say the words, especially not in front of Arthur. Having magic was one thing, sneaking into the dungeons to talk to an illegal dragon was another. 

“For goodness’ sake, Merlin’s the bloody warlock,” Arthur said as if he thought the two were the slowest beings he’d ever wasted his time on. 

“That…that sorta makes sense, now that you say that.” Louis said. “Well, thanks for sharing the light, good luck with the dragon,” Louis said as he turned to leave. 

“Wait, Louis!” Merlin called. “This is my first time down here as a frog, and well, we’re sort of lost.” Arthur snorted. “Do you think you could show us the way?” 

Louis answered immediately. “No bloody way! I don’t care if you’re a bloody Dragonlord; I am not going near that thing.” 

Merlin filed the Dragonlord comment away for later, when he was human and could look it up in one of Gaius’ books before pleading, “Please, Louis. You can’t just leave us like this. Arthur’s the prince; would you have your prince stay a frog?” 

“Merlin, you’re a nice bloke, but to be frank, the only people I’ve ever cared about are the ones who drop their food.” 

Merlin’s face fell immediately. Louis had seemed so nice before. What happened? Sure, the dragon could be a bit overwhelming, and the dragon had called Merlin his kin. What would he be like at this size? Especially when they’re so helpless. 

Then again, that’s exactly why Merlin needed Louis’ help. 

“Leave this to me,” Arthur whispered against Merlin’s skin, his breath warm. Before Merlin’s stomach could fill with butterflies, Arthur punched Merlin’s arm in an I’m-a-manly-man-so-I-show-my-affection-in-manly-ways-because-I’m-manly move that was never as reassuring to Merlin as it was Arthur’s nights. Merlin shook his head. There was no way Arthur would be able to talk Louis into this. 

“Louis,” Arthur schmoozed. “It was really nice meeting you. You seem great. It’s too bad you don’t want to accompany us on our quest; I’m sure you would have loved to get out of here.” 

With that, Arthur turned away and pulled Merlin along with him. 

Before Merlin could ask Arthur how the hell walking away was ‘handling it’, Louis trotted up after them. 

“What do you mean ‘get out of here’?” the rat asked, and just like that, Merlin realized what Arthur had done. Turns out all those politics were helpful in real life situations. Who knew? 

“Well,” Arthur said thoughtfully, “I figured that if you took us to see the dragon then you’d leave with us. We’re not exactly planning on finding out how to break the spell just to stay down here.” 

“You’d do that?” Louis asked excitedly. 

“Of course,” Arthur said easily. “But we need to see the dragon before we can go back to the castle.” 

Louis didn’t even think about it. “I’ll take you!” He said. “Come on, this way!” He said, turning a different direction. 

 

*

They’d been walking for hours, Merlin filling Arthur in on all the times he’d used magic to save his prince’s life, and maybe confessing to using it to finish his chores. Louis was quite talkative, and interjected frequently. Arthur kept quiet most of the time, taking in Merlin’s excited energy. Seeing Merlin like this, free to speak and do as he please, Arthur almost wished they would not have to return back to normal, knowing he’d see his friend’s happiness dulled down with the weight of his secret. 

Any regret Arthur feels over going back to his normal life vanished when he realized what he would have to do to eat. 

“No. No way am I going to eat a bug,” stated Arthur. 

“Oh, so you’re just going to starve then?” Merlin asked. 

“I’m not going to starve, Merlin.” 

Just then, Arthur’s stomach let out a loud growl. 

Arthur didn’t even think that frog’s stomachs could growl. 

Merlin chuckled low and Arthur’s stomach flipped. He definitely needed to eat something. 

“Come on, sire,” Arthur was sure that if Merlin had eyebrows, they’d be waggling. “I mean you’ve already eaten—”

“Some gross things, yes!” Arthur interrupted. Was Merlin about to point out that they’d eaten rat in front of Louis? 

Merlin’s eyes widened, so he probably realized what he’d been about to do. Arthur saw the silent ‘thank you’ in Merlin’s eyes. His stomach flipped once more, and he knew he had to give in. 

“Fine, Merlin. Since you’re so eager, why don’t you show me how?” Arthur said in his haughtiest voice, the same one he’d used when he’d made Merlin eat the rat stew. 

Merlin’s smile thinned a bit, but that just meant that he was going to concede. “Of course, sire.”

Arthur followed Merlin when he hopped away. Arthur watched as Merlin’s eyes settled on a bug and he struck at it with his tongue. 

Well, he tried to. His tongue just scared the bug away. 

“Let’s see you do better,” Merlin huffed over Arthur’s laughing. Arthur straightened up at Merlin’s words. He let out a few practice strikes with his tongue. It was awkward, but he got the hang of it quickly, of course. He was Arthur Pendragon, who excelled in hunting. That was how he had to think of this, as hunting. 

Arthur wandered until he found an insect that looked like he might be able to swallow some down before spitting it out in disgust. Merlin had gotten bored with him and walked away to look for his own dinner. Without the distraction of his manservant, Arthur was able to easily zero in on his prey. He was sure that if he struck it hard and fast at the proper angle, he’d be able to get it. 

Arthur’s tongue whipped out of his mouth and at the unsuspecting insect. Sure, he caught the bug, but his tongue caught on something else too. His body was pulled forward when his tongue wasn’t able to recoil properly. When Arthur looked to see what the hell his tongue was wrapped around, he froze. 

His tongue was knotted with a long, pink tongue not unlike his own—a frog’s tongue. In fact, if Arthur didn’t know better, he’d think it was Merlin’s tongue. 

Arthur looked up, and guess what. It was Merlin’s tongue tangled with his. 

“Merlin,” Arthur tried to say, but he came out all garbled since his tongue wasn’t at his disposal. 

Merlin’s eyes were wide and he kept poking at the knot, but it wasn’t budging. Arthur pushed Merlin’s webbed fingers away and started working at the knot. Yet the results were the same as Merlin’s. 

“Merlin, Arthur! I found—oh,” Louis stopped in his tracks. “Sorry, didn’t realize that you were, well, I kind of thought with the way you looked at each other, but I wasn’t sure…” What the hell was Louis talking about? Couldn’t he see they were in trouble? “Anyways, I’ll just leave you two to it, then.” 

Merlin immediately called out and somehow managed to convey his alarm. Louis’ brow furrowed and he reluctantly approached. When he realized that their tongues were literally knotted together, he let out a fond laugh. 

“Got a little excited there, yeah? Let me see if I can untangle you.” Arthur did his best to not let his taste buds react to Louis’ filthy paws. Instead, he thought about how the first thing he’d do when everything was back as it should be was make Merlin draw him a hot, hot bath. Maybe he’d even make Merlin wash his hair. Merlin’s fingers felt perfect against Arthur’s scalp. Shit, would Merlin want a bath too? He’d certainly need one after all this. Maybe Arthur’d let Merlin use his tub when he was done with it. Arthur realized he’d never seen Merlin bathe. It was strange that Merlin had seen every inch of Arthur’s body in just about every state and yet Arthur was lucky to see his manservant’s collarbones. Well, not lucky. Certainly not that. 

Yeah. 

Arthur really should have paid more attention to what Louis was doing, because suddenly there was a sharp tug on his tongue and he realized that Louis had managed to make the knot ten times worse. Arthur groaned. 

“Shoot! Well, hey. You know what would be perfect? A sharp rock. I’ll go get one!” Louis jumped away. Arthur had the feeling the vermin was enjoying this. 

The silence that fell over Merlin and Arthur wasn’t one of the comfortable ones they shared late at night when Merlin finished up chores and Arthur worked one papers for the council. Instead, this one weighed down on them, they could feel the cause of their awkward silence between them (literally). 

Arthur shot a glare at Merlin. This was entirely his fault. Damn him. 

“Damn, yeh’ve managed to get yerselves in a fine mess, haven’t yeh?” came an unfamiliar voice with a drawl similar to the one of the villages Arthur had visited. 

Arthur tensed immediately, and he felt Merlin do the same. Like this they were both completely vulnerable. Merlin couldn’t even speak the words to cast a spell to protect them. Dammit, why had they let Louis walk away? 

“Don’t look so alarmed, I’m not ‘ere to ‘arm yeh. At furst I was thinkin’ yeh were luvers, but when I noticed yeh weren’t movin’, I thought I’d check it out. If yeh don’t mind,” the spider said before its long, skinny, and surprisingly strong legs moved deftly through about their tangled tongues, working out the intricacies of the knot before Arthur could work past his shock and begin to protest.

Merlin, however, wasn’t frozen in shock. “Thank you! I was scared we were going to have to stay like that. You have very skilled, er, legs.” He elbowed Arthur, who added gruff thank you, his tongue feeling strange in his mouth. 

“Ta very much! Though if yer impressed by that then yeh oughtta see me make a web,” the spider said, a dreamy look in his eye. “I’m Ray.”

Arthur straightened up. He’d been letting his manservant take charge much too much. “I’m Arthur and this is Merlin.” 

“I found the perfect....oh.” Louis’ excited shout quieted when he that his two companions were untangled. Dammit, Arthur knew the rat had enjoyed it. 

“Louis!” Merlin said. “This is Ray, he untangled us. Ray, this is Louis. He’s taking us to see the dragon.”

“Yer goin’ to see Kil?” Ray looked dubious. 

“Kil?” Arthur asked. 

“Kilgarrah, the dragon,” Ray rolled his eyes. 

“I never knew he had a name…” Merlin said, more to himself than anyone else. 

“Yes, well,” Arthur interrupted before Merlin could embarrass them more. “We’re going to see Kilgarrah.” 

“Yeh missed the turn down a bit further back,” Ray said, shooting a look at Louis. 

“Oops,” Louis tried to shrug it off. 

“Louis,” Arthur said. Luckily for Louis, Merlin seemed to recognize the tone. He placed a hand on his master’s arm to calm him or tell him to stand down, and it probably should have bothered Arthur that Merlin had basically trained him. However, Merlin’s touch filled Arthur with warmth and the gesture made him so content that he calmed to being solely annoyed with Louis. 

That was weird when he thought about it. He decided not to. 

“Louis,” Arthur said, more annoyed than angry now. “Why have you been misleading us?” 

“I hadn’t meant to, I swear.” Louis caught Arthur’s expression and hurried to elaborate. “It’s just, well, I got so excited about going back to the castle and I, erm, it’s not like I’ve ever had a reason to go see the dragon.” 

“You didn’t know the way to the dragon?” Arthur repeated. That would each him to trust a rat. 

“Well,” Merlin interrupted. “Ray, do you think you could lead all three of us to Kilgarrah?” The ‘all three of us’ was there to tell Arthur that Louis was sticking with them as much as it was to reassure Louis. 

Once again, Arthur took Merlin’s order. 

“I don’t see why not,” Ray said. “Let’s get goin’, yeah?”

 

*

 

They were covering a lot more ground now that Ray was leading them, even faster when they’d left Louis at the top of the stairs to wait for their return. Merlin had a lot more respect for spiders now that he saw how fast Ray moved . 

“What’s wrong?” Arthur asked him. 

Merlin shot Arthur the same smile he always did when the man pried and answered, “Nothing, sire.”

“Merlin, need I remind you what happens when you keep secrets from me? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were growing fond of the stocks,” Arthur’s voice was teasing, but Merlin could hear the hidden worry in his prince’s tone. 

And when Merlin realized that he actually could talk to Arthur about it, he felt a warmth bloom in his chest. Who would have thought that Arthur would be the one to listen to Merlin for a change? 

“It’s just sort of weird, isn’t it?” Merlin whispered. “Why would Ray know Kilgarrah? I didn’t even know his name. Not that I know much about him, now that I think about it.” Merlin paused. He really didn’t know anything about Kilgarrah (if his name even was Kilgarrah). All he knew about the dragon was that he’d been locked up during the Purge, he wise—well, if wise meant irritatingly cryptic. 

Oh, and that Louis was right about one thing: he was absolutely mental. 

Arthur didn’t respond vocally, but he didn’t need to. Even as a frog, Merlin could read his face. 

He was thinking about what Merlin had said. Merlin’s stomach fluttered at the thought that Arthur was taking him seriously. 

Merlin and Arthur hopped easily down the steps that Merlin had trouble walking through as a human. Then again, the uneven steps plus the time of night he was taking them should be factored in. Not that he was in his best state of mind at the moment. Not that it mattered. He had more important things to do than rest. 

Finally, they neared the bottom of the steps. Merlin was about to call out to Kilgarrah when he saw Arthur being pulled away by… was that a shadow? Merlin tried to cast a spell to stop it, but none of the spells he tried worked. He could tell that the spell had required quite a bit of intricate spell work, but he couldn’t really admire it when it was directed towards his prince. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, Kilgarrah appeared and blew a line of fire at what must have been the shadow’s source . The shadow curled up in on itself before dispersing completely. Immediately, Merlin rushed to his prince’s side. Once he found Arthur to be completely unharmed, save for his ego, Merlin turned to face Kilgarrah. 

“Hello, Ray. How’s your grandmother?” Kilgarrah asked the spider, completely ignoring that Merlin had matters of importance to speak to him about. 

“Still spinnin’ silk finer than all the other spiders,” Ray said proudly and oh. Was that really how they knew each other? Through Ray’s grandmother?

“I’m glad to hear it.” Kilgarrah said. 

“Kilgarrah,” Merlin pronounced clearly. He felt Arthur shiver next to him. He moved closer to his prince; it was rather chilly down here. 

“Oh, Merlin,” Kilgarrah emitted a sort of rumbling noise that might have actually been a chuckle. Merlin had never seen the dragon smile before, let alone laugh. “You and the young Pendragon have made a terrible habit of attracting trouble.” 

Merlin felt relieved when the dragon didn’t say more. Though Merlin had told Arthur all he’d done for him, he’d never told Arthur about their Destiny. Arthur faced enough stress as it was; he didn’t need all that pressure. 

Regardless of his relief, Merlin shot Kilgarrah a Look. 

“What have you come all the way down here for, young warlock?” Kilgarrah asked. 

“I wanted to swap recipes,” Merlin said. He could put up with Prince Prat all day, but one conversation with Kilgarrah always put him over the edge. He didn’t know if it was the dragon himself, seeing him imprisoned down here, or something else entirely. “Why do you think I’m here, Kilgarrah? I need your advice.” 

“You already have all the answers.”

Merlin wanted to strangle something. As if he could tell what Merlin was thinking, Arthur gave him a comforting squeeze on his slimy arm before stepping forward. 

“How do we find the answers?” Arthur asked, clearly royal in his demeanor, despite his amphibious form. 

“You already have,” Kilgarrah semi-answered. Merlin sighed. He knew Arthur wouldn’t be able to get a straight answer out of Kilgarrah. Arthur had never been one for losing though.   
Instead of frustration, Arthur looked…thoughtful. What the hell? How was Arthur Pendragon calm in the face of Kilgarrah? 

“We thought we found the answer in a book of tall tales; it said that the frog must receive a kiss. Yet when we kissed, Merlin was turned into a frog as well.” Merlin was blown away. Not only was Arthur calm and thoughtful with Kilgarrah, but he was talking about their kiss as if it wasn’t a big deal. 

Then again, maybe it wasn’t a big deal to Arthur. 

“That is only half the answer.” 

Again, Merlin could see Arthur turning the dragon’s words over in his head, trying to make sense of them. Merlin immediately started turning it over too. He was always involved in what Arthur was doing, always there for advice. It was second-nature for him to go through Arthur’s problems and find a solution so that he could tactfully lead Arthur to the same conclusion. 

“Oh!” Merlin exclaimed. “I can’t believe it, we’re such idiots.” 

“What?” Arthur asked immediately. 

“In the story,” the words rushed out of Merlin’s mouth in his excitement, “In the story a princess kissed the frog! It has to be a princess, right?” Merlin looked to Kilgarrah who nodded at him. If Merlin hadn’t known him better, he would have thought that Kilgarrah looked a little proud. 

Arthur deflated a bit. “Do you know how long it will take to send word for a princess, let alone for her to travel all the way to Camelot? And it’s not like she’ll be willing to do this out of the goodness of her heart.” Arthur frowned. 

“That is where you’re wrong, young Pendragon. Uther has another heir, would he be willing to recognize her.”

“What? But she could be anyone!” Merlin complained. Arthur, however, didn’t say anything. The only signs that he had actually heard Kilgarrah were the tightness of his muscles and the hurt in his eyes. Kilgarrah ignored Merlin, and waited for Arthur to meet his eyes. Once the prince did, Kilgarrah offered him a small nod and Merlin knew trying to understand their silent communication was a hopeless endeavor.   
“Thank you, Kilgarrah,” Prince Arthur bowed deeply. Merlin didn’t bother trying to hide his shock; the only person Arthur showed that much respect was his father. 

“You’re welcome, young Pendragon,” Kilgarrah answered. He didn’t bow or anything, but there was unfamiliar in his eyes. Merlin wasn’t sure, but he thought it might have been hope. 

Arthur turned to leave, but Merlin gave Kilgarrah a serious look. The dragon was in what would have qualified as a good mood for him. Merlin figured he had a shot at another question. 

“Will you tell me anything about the person or people behind this? I know that the spells that have been cast have been quite…complex. And uncommon, judging by the fact that we found it in a story book, not a spell book. ” 

“All good observations, Merlin.” 

“As far as motive goes, well, it doesn’t really narrow anything down, does it? There do seem to be a superfluous amount of sorcerers itching to see Pendragon blood spilled.” Merlin shivered at the thought. 

“Yes, but this sorcerer is not new to Camelot; this is someone who is part of Camelot’s dirty past, someone who is to finish what they started.” 

Suddenly Merlin understood. “Nimueh.” 

Kilgarrah nodded. 

“Thank you, Kilgarrah.” 

“You’re welcome, young warlock. I’ll see you again soon.” Merlin offered a sad smile as an answer. He knew Kilgarrah would understand. He only saw Kilgarrah in times of extreme duress. 

 

*

 

He reminded himself that he was Arthur Pendragon, and he didn’t get nervous. Yes, he was currently a frog being led out of the underground dungeons by a spider with his magical manservant and a daft rat. Regardless, they had found a solution. Tomorrow morning he’d be waking up in his ridiculously soft bed, greeted by Merlin’s too cheery smile that was brighter than the sun that shown in Arthur’s face when Merlin opened the curtains. Yes, by this time tomorrow it would be none of this had happened. 

And if Arthur were honest with himself, that caused much more anxiety than the thought of some powerful sorceress running amok in Camelot. 

Arthur let out a longing sigh, which of course Ray noticed, responding with an expression that rivaled Gaius’ Eyebrow. Arthur pretending not to notice, but that worked as well as The Eyebrow. 

“Trouble in paradise?” Ray asked. 

Arthur snorted. “I’m a frog travelling through dungeons two days ago I didn’t know existed with a spider, a rat, and my magical manservant who’s also a frog. This is hardly paradise.” 

“True, but we just needa travel a few more stairs an’ get yer royal smooch before yeh can resume life as it were.”

Arthur didn’t respond. If anything, that reassurance made him feel….well, he’d say nervous but he was Arthur Pendragon; he didn’t get nervous. 

“Or is that not all that’s bothering you?” Ray asked, a knowing gleam in his many eyes. 

“No, I suppose it’s not,” Arthur responded with a sad smile. “I just…I don’t know how this will change things.” Arthur swallowed drily. Merlin and Arthur’s relationship had changed so much since Arthur had last been human. Would their regression to their true forms cause a similar regression in their relationship? Would they continue as before, Arthur a prat with Merlin as his mischievous manservant? Would Arthur turn a blind eye as Merlin worked his magic from behind the scenes, never receiving the recognition he deserved? 

Would Merlin close off again? 

“Just tell ‘im ‘ow yeh feel,” Ray said. 

Arthur started, immediately glancing back to make sure Merlin hadn’t heard, finding the amphibian talking excitedly to Louis. 

If Arthur’s skin weren’t green, he might have blushed at how telling the action had been. Understanding that there was no point in fighting it, Arthur decided to speak. 

“I can’t,” he barely managed. 

“I don’ hardly see why not,” Ray said. 

“I can’t! How can I admit that I think about him all the time? Or that…I care about him more than anyone? How can I admit that…I don’t know what I’d do if any harm comes to him.”

“Why not?”

“Because nothing can ever happen between us! To admit my feelings knowing that…it hurts too much.”

After a moment of silence, Ray said with a sad smile, “Merlin’s right about yeh.”

Arthur just stared at the spider for a moment before giving into the urge to ask what he was talking about. 

“Yer an idiot.”

 

*

Merlin had been watching Arthur and Ray up ahead of him and Louis. Arthur’s face went through a range of emotions, too quickly for Merlin to read from that distance. Merlin wanted to jump in and help Arthur, but he knew an emotional Arthur was not one to mess with. He withheld his need to talk to Arthur until he could get him alone. 

It didn’t take long. Ray said something before trotting off and leaving Arthur to his thoughts. Merlin waited for Louis to finish his story about the cook’s pies before he excused himself and went to Arthur’s side. 

“Everything all right, sire?” Merlin asked as he cheerily bumped into Arthur’s shoulder and ignored bliss he felt at touching Arthur. 

Arthur just looked at Merlin. Merlin felt as though his prince were trying to examine his soul with that gaze. Merlin worried, but didn’t say anything. He knew he couldn’t make Arthur talk. Pushing him would just make Arthur close up. No, he needed to wait this out. Let Arthur feel comfortable enough that he could talk to Merlin. 

They walked for a while in silence before Arthur spoke. 

“Merlin,” Arthur said something like hesitance in his voice; something like fear. 

“Yes, Arthur?” Merlin wasn’t sure why, but when Arthur looked at him like that, his eyes pleading for something, not that Merlin knew what it was, Merlin knew he was a goner. He’d give Arthur anything he asked for without hesitation. 

“Merlin, I…” Arthur trailed and looked away from Merlin before speaking again. “I accept you, magic and all.”

Merlin should have felt elated. His heart should have soared and he should have felt a wave of happiness crash over him. A small part of him did, though the majority of him felt disbelief. He didn’t think Arthur was lying. No, he just felt that those weren’t the words Arthur was struggling to say. 

Merlin studied Arthur for a moment, but he quickly found that Arthur had closed off after speaking. Merlin felt a pang of hurt at the realization that he’d never find out what Arthur was going to say, but he let it go. This was Arthur, after all. 

Merlin turned a blinding smile on Arthur and chatted with him easily before turning to another serious topic. 

“Arthur…” Merlin said. 

“Hmm?” He responded, a quirk of a smile on his face. 

“About what the…the kiss.” Merlin swallowed. He would not let himself be upset about Arthur kissing someone else. No way. Arthur wasn’t his to kiss at all, let alone his to claim. “How do you think we’ll find her?”

Arthur grimaced, and suddenly Merlin remembered Arthur and Kilgarrah’s exchange. 

“You know who she is,” Merlin stated. 

Arthur licked his lips, eyes downward. “I believe so.” 

Merlin just looked at Arthur expectantly. 

“Merlin, I…I think it’s Morgana,” Arthur said. After the initial surprise wore off, Merlin realized that he felt it was true. 

“Yeah,” was all Merlin said, though he squeezed Arthur’s slimy hand for comfort. As if the realization that his father’s ward and his childhood friend was his actually his half-sister wasn’t shocking enough, realizing his father had committed adultery with none other than his best friend’s wife would have pushed a weaker man over the edge. 

Luckily, they were saved from their awkward silence when they saw light. It was dim, coming from under the door, but Merlin and Arthur exchanged excited glances and sped up nonetheless. Soon, Merlin’s orbs of light disappeared and they were escaping under the door. 

And then they were out of the dungeons, out of the dark. A moment passed where the four of them just bathed in the light and mirth, before they all shook themselves together to go forth. 

*

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo I know this isn't 100% finished, but I had to post it on my assigned day. The rest of it will be up by the end of the week.


End file.
